The invention relates generally to medical devices and procedures. More particularly, the invention relates to devices and methods for spinal stabilization.
Stabilization of one or more levels of the spine is often accomplished with placement of an elongated connecting element, such as a rod construct, between bone anchors engaged to the vertebrae of the one or more levels. These procedures may employ various techniques and approaches for positioning the rod into the patient for engagement to the bone anchors. Depending on the technique and surgical instruments that are employed, differing types of rods may be selected for insertion into the patient. For example, rods that are implanted in percutaneous minimally invasive procedures where the rod is guided through skin and tissue to the anchors may employ a configuration that is not optimal for implantation in an open or mini-open surgical procedure in which the rod is positioned minimally invasively or invasively into the patient along a retracted tissue pathway. Furthermore, differing types of rods may be required in order function properly with differing types of insertion instruments or insertion techniques. Therefore, multiple types of rods are required to be available depending on the type of surgical procedure to be employed.
Thus, a need exists for improved elongated connecting elements and procedures for insertion and securement of elongated connecting elements at locations within a patient's body that can be employed in different types of surgical approaches and insertion instruments.